Hot on the heels of the extraordinary reception that The Satanic Temple (TST)-Chicago received for their Snaketivity display in the Illinois capitol rotunda, a Satanic group in Michigan is claiming their right to join in Holiday festivities in public forums.

West Michigan Friends of The Satanic Temple Has a Baphomet of Their Own

Image Credit: West Michigan Friends of The Satanic Temple

Ok, so in fairness, the West Michigan Friends of TST group’s Star of Reconciliation display isn’t a full Baphomet, this statue only features the goat-like head of the iconic figure. But it’s clearly heavily influenced by Baphomet, and submitted in the same spirit, so I think it’s fair that if people want to claim this will be the first Baphomet installed on public grounds, that’s not too much of a leap.

Nativity for Thee, then Baphomet for Me

The group will be commemorating the season with their rendition of everyone’s favorite androgynous unification of opposites because, well, frankly because they can. This all goes back to 2014 when, after sorting through a bunch of applications, TST’s original Snaketivity display was the only application that successfully jumped through all the legal hoops for a holiday display. The original idea back then, of course, was to add a Satanic voice along side other religious displays. However, since no other group could get their paperwork in order TST’s monument was, at the time, poised to be the only display that made the cut.

Would TST have withdrawn their application if they were the only voice represented? We’ll never know, because State Senator Rick Jones stepped in and decided to put a nativity scene on the lawn, so TST went ahead with their plans anyway and the rest, as they say, is history.

Jones has continued the tradition and so, since TST-Detroit is now defunct, the newer West Michigan Friends of TST are stepping in to fill the void left while seeking to become the new TST chapter of the mitten state. We wouldn’t want Jones’ nativity scene to get lonely now, would we? Happy holidays and yay pluralism.

The Star of Reconciliation display will be on the Michigan capitol lawn from December 21st through December 27th.

Display Still Underfunded

One small touch of grey in this story is that the West Michigan Friends of TST have yet to meet their funding goal to cover all the costs of this endeavor; they’re a lot closer than they were though. A surge in donations have hit the group’s GoFundMe campaign page since the installation of TST-Chicago’s monument went viral in the news. At the time of this writing the group is only a few hundred dollars away from meeting their goal and avoiding out-of-pocket costs. So please consider hopping over there and kicking them a few bucks.

On that note, reader TheBlueFrog commented on my previous article about TST-Chicago’s Snaketivity that their funding projections were a little off and they’re coming up a bit short on transportation fees themselves. So the Chicago GoFundMe is still active as well and they could still use a little bump to cover their costs too.

Jack Matirko is an activist, blogger, and podcaster focussing on issues of church and state separation. He runs Patheos' Satanic Blog For Infernal Use Only (patheos.com/blogs/infernal), co-hosts the Naked Diner Podcast (patreon.com/nakeddiner), and is a member of The Satanic Temple-Arizona Chapter. His opinions are his own. To contribute to his work please consider becoming a patron of his podcast. You can read more about the author here.